Many years ago, we saw an exhibit of Diebenkorn’s Ocean Park paintings. He has always been a favorite of ours. The Ocean Park paintings are flatter and more linear than the paintings done during his Berkeley years, which are on view at the De Young. We were so excited to get to see the drawings and paintings of his earlier work.
During his years in Berkeley, Diebenkorn was deeply engaged with the unique setting of the Bay Area, saturating his works with color, light, and atmosphere. More than 130 paintings and drawings, beginning with the artist’s earlier abstract works and moving through his subsequent figurative phase, display his profound influence on postwar American art.
I was fascinated with his drawings of the human figure. The gestures are fluid and unrestrained.
His early abstract landscapes really captivated me with their wild colors and the organic nature of the brush strokes.
His work evolved to include figures, sometimes in interiors and often in landscapes.
To give you a frame of reference, this is one of his more spare and restrained Ocean Park paintings.
It was just a wonderful experience to walk among all of this work and marvel in the color and composition.
I love this entrance to the De Young, designed by Andy Goldsworthy which has a fissure that runs through the surface and rocks and meanders up to the entrance.
After lunch, we picked up the makings of dinner for Paige and her parents. We were allowed to pick her up early from daycare. I was especially happy to get to see where she spends her day and the wonderful care that she gets.
You can see her in the mirror, as she sits in her car seat.
She sang all the way home, even when we were stuck in traffic because of an accident. She enjoyed story time with Poppop.
Her Mama, got to come home early and so did her dad, since he didn’t have to pick her up. I made my veggie pasta sauce with rice pasta and Paige chowed down.
This is such a nice visit for us. Tomorrow, we might drive up to Sonoma County, where we used to live and get into some warmer temps for the day.
We made it to San Francisco and have been very busy since, getting in lots of time with Paige over the week-end. She is back in day care today and Mama and Papa are at work.
I always love driving over the Bay Bridge and seeing the SF skyline. We stopped to see Lisa and Clay in Oakland before we went over the bridge. They were married at Oakland city hall on Friday morning and so they are legally wife and wife!! We are so happy for them.
Paige or Peesh (as she calls herself) was excited to have company. She is one of those kids, like her Grandma, that gets energized being around lots of people. And then we crash!
Saturday was Jayme’s birthday so we went out to brunch in the morning. We are staying in a live/work loft in the mission on Harrison and 20th. More about that in another post.
Here she is enjoying something silly on my phone. And with her beautiful Dr. Mama.
On Saturday night, I made a birthday dinner for Jayme and Lisa and Clay joined us for the evening. It was lots of fun and we ate everything. I think there were two pieces of the vegan cake left over.
Yesterday, Jayme had to be at the hospital for her 12 hour shift. We spent the day with Mark and Paige. Here is Poppop (her name for Mr C) reading to her. She loves books and running around outside.
On this particular Sunday, part of 24th and Valencia Streets were closed to traffic and people walked, biked, skooted, skated and generally had a good time in the streets.
Paige wanted one of these huge bubbles to come near her, but she is too short.
She loved hanging out in this tent, part of an REI display.
I love SF murals, particularly in The Mission.
After a while, we all got hungry. Here is Paige eating one of her favorite foods – ’tilla (tortilla).
We stopped at a lovely playground where Paige had a good time. She was determined to run through the spouting water.
She is tall for her age, but looks pretty miniscule next to her big Daddy!!
Our condo is next door to this restaurant. Don’t think they have anything gluten free, but we are all going there on Thursday. Mia arrived in Oakland yesterday to go to the Young Artist’s camp at California College of Art so L and C will bring her over to spend the evening with us.
Today, we went for a long walk in our neighborhood. Here are some photos from our walk.
We are on the road, heading for San Francisco, spending the night in Yreka, CA. It was extremely hot in Southern Oregon and Northern CA. We are trying to get our motel room down to a comfortable sleeping temperature.
I was so bummed to find out that the Grants Pass Museum of Art closes at 4 pm – what?! We didn’t get there until 5:15 so I did not get to se the SAQA Sightlines exhibit. I think it closes this week so, I missed my opportunity. I had planned to blog about it.
So, I am just checking in. I brought my 3x3s and the beads so that I can continue stitching them together. I also am making progress on Paige’s sweater, after taking a hiatus.
We dropped Scooter of at the K-9 resort and he was so happy to see his friends there, human and canine. We believe that Scooter is the kind of dog who will be happy wherever he is!
I am watching Project Runway – I have the greatest husband – to let me watch this. He is doing some pretty good critiquing!